A quest for the origin of the Sagnac effect

TL;DR

This paper investigates the fundamental origin of the relativistic Sagnac effect, proposing that it arises from the asymmetric position of the observer relative to light paths rather than rotation or relative motion.

Contribution

It introduces a new perspective that the Sagnac effect is due to observer position asymmetry, challenging previous explanations based on rotation or relative motion.

Findings

The Sagnac effect is not caused by frame rotation or source-observer relative motion.

A thought experiment demonstrates the effect's dependence on observer position asymmetry.

Analysis of a rotating gedanken experiment supports the proposed origin.

Abstract

In the literature, there is no consensus on the origin of the relativistic Sagnac effect, particularly from the standpoint of the rotating observer. The experiments of Wang et al. \cite{wang2003modified,wang2004generalized} has, however, questioned the pivotal role of rotation of the platform in Sagnac effect. Recently, the relative motion between the reflectors which force light to propagate along a closed path and the observer has been ascribed as the cause of the Sagnac effect. Here, we propose a thought experiment on linear Sagnac effect and explore another one proposed earlier to demonstrate that the origin of the Sagnac effect is neither the rotation of frame affecting clock synchronization nor the relative motion between the source and the observer; Sagnac effect originates purely due to asymmetric position of the observer with respect to the light paths. Such a conclusion is validated by analysis of a gedanken Sagnac kind experiment involving rotation.